Intel was fined 370 million euros by the EU

According to the EU, Intel engaged in anti-competitive behavior and violated antitrust rules by excluding competitors from the market.

To this end, the European Commission has just re-imposed a fine of approximately 376.36 million euros on Intel for violating antitrust rules in the computer chip market.

The fine is related to Intel's practices regarding its dominance of the x86 central processing unit (CPU) market, which the EU says excludes competitors from relevant markets.

In 2009, the EU ruled that Intel had committed two specific illegal acts and initially fined the agency 1.06 billion euros.

The EU says they will provide all or part of an implicit rebate to computer manufacturers if they buy a majority of x86 CPUs from Intel (conditional rebates) and pay manufacturers to stop releasing products containing x86 CPUs from rival companies. Products (naked restrictions).

In 2022, the European Court of Justice overturned the 2009 European Commission decision on Intel's rebate practices.

However, the court reiterated that Intel's naked restrictive practices constituted an abuse of market dominance under EU rules.

The court canceled the entire €1.06 billion fine in 2022 because it was unable to determine the extent of the fine related solely to the naked restrictions.

The EU said in a statement that Intel had not yet appealed the part of the 2022 ruling that confirmed the restrictions were unlawful, allowing it to reduce its 376.36 million euro fine based on those specific violations.

"Intel pays customers to limit, delay or cancel sales of products containing computer chips from its main competitors. This is illegal under our competition rules." Didier Reynders, the commissioner in charge of EU competition policy Didier Reynders said in a statement.

"Our decision demonstrates the Commission's commitment to ensuring that very serious antitrust violations do not go unapproved," he added.

Intel did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

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